Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement
7C
Personal Statement: A plea for common courtesy
by Sylvanna Gross, Daily Sports Writer
“E
xcuse me, my food is cold.”
Ma’am, that’s because you decided to finish
your conversation before touching your food.
“It’s chilly in here, could you turn down the A/C?”
No, I don’t know how and I really don’t have time. But don’t
worry, in five minutes I will come back and let you know that
I did.
“Well, why don’t you have any soy-free, vegan, gluten-free
products that are organic and are under 100 calories?”
Well, sir, you are describing air. And unfortunately I don’t
know how to ring that up and give you a bill for that. I suggest
water, it’s free.
***
There’s an old adage that goes, “You can choose two out
of the three things for college: a social life, good grades, and/
or sleep.” But, when you have a job in college, you can really
only choose one because having a part-time job in college is
hard. Like, super hard. And, if you choose to have a full-time
job and go through your undergrad career, I respect you on
so many levels.
Yet, despite having no time to do everything I need to do, I
somehow get by. I get decent grades, I maintain a somewhat
regular social life — though I miss a lot of great events — and
my classes don’t start until 11 a.m. every day, so I usually get
at least six hours of sleep.
I’ve always had minimum-wage jobs since I got my work-
ing papers. It gave me a sense of independence from my
parents. I learned the value of money, the necessity of sav-
ings, etc. And, to be honest, I have learned just as much from
working minimum-wage jobs as I have sitting in classes. I’ve
learned time management and I’ve learned how to pour wine
in a fancy way and I’ve learned to tie my hair up in a knot so
that it won’t move for hours on end.
But the number one thing I have ever learned from work-
ing all through high school and college is the value of com-
mon courtesy.
Silly, I know, to complain of manners in an age where hav-
ing a face-to-face conversation is rare and a common greet-
ing between friends is an insult. But I will still complain
because, truthfully, people have forgotten the art of respect.
It is one thing to be rude to your friends, but it is quite
another to be rude to someone you don’t know.
I am your waitress. I am there to make your dining expe-
rience as pleasant as possible. I understand that sometimes
the food is not to your liking but remember: I AM NOT THE
CHEF. I am simply the messenger between you two. I have
no control over when food will be ready, despite how often
I can annoy the kitchen. Trust me, you are not the only per-
son unhappy if the food isn’t right. I am too, because that
means that even though I did my job right, someone else did
it wrong. But I will be the one to pay for it when you decide
what to tip me.
Sometimes people’s wallets don’t allow them to tip over
15 percent and I completely understand that. However, I
believe you should be budgeting what you plan to spend that
night with your waitstaff in mind. I make three dollars an
hour legally because the restaurant believes that because I
am making tips, my salary will then be adjusted. However,
when I have ten tables undertip me or ten patrons forget to
tip me or ten customers who are only doing takeout so why
should they tip me for spending hours looking over the menu
with them, I can sometimes not even come close to making
$9 an hour.
And when you work ten-hour shifts constantly standing,
$9 an hour is not right.
So that’s my first request from diners: don’t base your tip
on how your food tastes, base your tip on how much I try
to make the dining experience as wonderful as possible. I
promise you, I’m not smiling and making small talk for my
own benefit.
And under no circumstances do you choose not to tip.
Because that happens, too, and I guarantee the waitstaff will
remember your face.
Another frustrating habit: the kid situation. I will preface
this by saying that I love children, but please take control of
their actions in a restaurant. I am carrying hot food, cups
filled to the brim with liquid, and knives. Your child should
not be under my feet when I finally get to your table. Your
child should not be blocking every possible available surface
with their toys. Also, your baby is screaming? Take them
outside. Your toddler is throwing a tantrum? Take them out-
side. You want to chastise your pre-teen? Take them outside.
If we close at midnight, do not walk in at 11:55 p.m. and
think it’s OK.
There is nothing worse than walking up to a table to take
your food order and having to wait for the patrons to finish
their conversation. Acknowledge my presence! Please!
When you are ready to order, put the menu down to signal
me to come over. When you are ready to pay the check, put it
at the side of the table.
Don’t hit on me.
If you’re dining with a large group, tell me at the begin-
ning if you want separate checks.
With that being said, as a college student myself, I get
wanting to go out with your friends. But if all eighteen of
you are each ordering one $5 item and you all want separate
checks and you’re all not willing to tip, I will have issues.
Smile.
If you have questions about the food, I will answer them.
However, there comes a point where I need to do other
things besides spending five minutes detailing every single
item on the menu.
I can quite literally go on for hours with requests. But
please, do me a favor (or really do yourselves a favor) and
next time you sit down at a restaurant, remember me. I am
your waitress and this is my job, but I am a person. And I
deserve basic common courtesy.
ILLUSTRATION BY CHERYLL VICTUELLES